USAID Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team Honored with Service to America Medal

I am thrilled that USAID's Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has been selected as a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal recipient in the National Security and International Affairs category.

I am thrilled the MacArthur Foundation has honored Patrick Awuah as a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. As the founder and President of Ashesi University, one of Africa's top institutions of higher learning, Patrick is helping to empower the next generation of Ghana's leaders.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $1.8 million partnership with Michigan State University to help the African Great Lakes region maintain its international position in the coffee market. Today, the first ever International Coffee Day, provides an opportunity to reflect on how the coffee in your cup is connected to the lives of smallholder farmers in low income countries around the world. This partnership launches the Feed the Future African Great Lakes Region Coffee Support Program that will help coffee farmers in Rwanda support their families.

The United States remains deeply concerned by the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where millions of people now face pre-famine conditions. A collapsing health system is allowing rapid spread of dengue fever and other diseases, and child malnutrition is reaching alarming levels.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Administrator Alfonso Lenhardt and People's Republic of China Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to create a framework to facilitate expanded U.S.-China collaboration, communication and cooperation to achieve our shared objectives on development issues.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), along with world leaders and development partners will host "Partnering to End Extreme Poverty and Achieve the Global Goals" alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt, will travel to New York to participate in the 70th UN General Assembly from September 26-29. This year's gathering is especially important as the UN will host the Sustainable Development Summit,September 25-27, where world leaders will adopt a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will stimulate action for the next 15 years.

The United States announced today nearly $419 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help those affected by the conflict in Syria. With this new funding, total U.S. humanitarian assistance since the start of the crisis is now more than $4.5 billion.

On Tuesday, September 22, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host a luncheon on behalf of the U.S. Government in honor of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Washington, D.C. At the luncheon, Senior Administration and USAID officials, as well as leaders of faith based organizations, will discuss their vision for ending extreme poverty, the importance of the papal visit to this goal, and the role that faith-based organizations play in international development. Grammy Award winning rock band Jars of Clay will perform during the event.

The United States announced today more than $89 million in additional humanitarian aid to help people affected by the ongoing conflict in Yemen. This brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for this crisis to nearly $170 million in fiscal year 2015.

On Thursday, Sept. 17, from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Agency for International Development will host a town hall to discuss its partnership with NASA to use space data to help international development efforts around the world. The event will be held in Washington in the amphitheater of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced an additional $86 million in food assistance through the UN World Food Program (WFP) to help feed millions of displaced and food-insecure people in Sudan. Of the $86 million, $75 million will be used to provide more than 69,000 metric tons of U.S. food and $11 million to provide food vouchers and support the local procurement of specialized nutrition products. The new contribution brings the total U.S. Government contribution of food assistance for Sudan to $170 million this year.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Thomas H. Staal is in Kuwait August 30-September 2. During his visit, he will meet with the United Nations and top donors to discuss the worsening humanitarian crises in Syria and Iraq.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today launched “SERVIR-Mekong,” a project to promote the use of satellite imagery to help Asia’s Lower Mekong region better predict and cope with floods and other natural disasters and increase resilience to the negative effects of climate change.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) U.S. Global Development Lab today announced $10 million for 45 new research projects that will address evidence gaps and advance technical capacity in critical areas of development. Spanning 23 USAID partner countries, the 45 new projects are funded through the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program, an initiative designed to foster collaborative global research. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine implements the program.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Susan Markham will travel to Japan August 26-September 1. Her visit will focus on USAID's development assistance to improve the lives of women and girls and solidify a shared commitment with the Government of Japan to gender equality and women's empowerment.

USAID Sets New Goal to Reach Additional 38 Million Women With Increased Access to Care During Childbirth

The United States Agency for International Development today released a new report showing that its maternal and child survival efforts have resulted in nearly two-and-a-half million more children surviving and 200,000 maternal deaths averted since 2008 in USAID’s 24 priority countries. In addition, the USAID report details how to reach 38 million of the most vulnerable women around the world with increased access to health care during delivery by 2020.

The U.S. Government today announced an additional $6 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to UNICEF to provide education to children and youth affected by conflict. The additional contribution brings USAID's total grant to UNICEF for emergency education in South Sudan over two years to $23.5 million.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Administrator Alfonso Lenhardt will travel to India and Bangladesh August 24 to September 1. While in Mumbai, India, Lenhardt will launch the India premier of the new girl's education film 'Girl Rising: Woh Padhegi, Woh Udegi', and tour a Tata lab as part of the Agency's focus on innovation. In New Delhi, India, Lenhardt will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Third Global Call to Action Summit 2015, a confluence of health ministers, practitioners and global leaders meeting to share best practices and reaffirm their commitment for ending preventable child and maternal deaths.

Today, USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia Jonathan Stivers announced the launch of a new development effort in the Philippines - with property rights as a focal point - that aims to spark inclusive economic growth outside the national capital region and aid poverty alleviation efforts. The five-year mechanism will support up to $48 million in programming, subject to the availability of funds, with up to $10.6 million dedicated during the first year, and includes a focus on tackling insecure property rights - which have been recognized as a key constraint to inclusive economic growth in the Philippines, where one in five people live in extreme poverty.